


Christmas Traditions

by goth_on_ham



Category: Gotham (TV)
Genre: Christmas, First Kiss, Fluff, M/M, Season/Series 01
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-22
Updated: 2017-01-22
Packaged: 2018-09-19 04:11:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,135
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9417977
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/goth_on_ham/pseuds/goth_on_ham
Summary: Jim reluctantly attends the GCPD Christmas Party and shares a kiss underneath the mistletoe.





	

**Author's Note:**

> From a prompt that I got, 'Jim x Season 1 Edward first kiss'. For some reason I decided to make it Christmassy.

The GCPD Christmas Party. Jim hadn’t wanted to go, but Harvey had insisted.

“If you don’t go, it’ll be boring.” He’d urged, sounding about half his age.

“Yeah, because I’m really going to be the life of the party.” Jim replied, folding his arms across his chest, skeptical to say the very least. 

“That’s not the point. If _you_ go, then I get to see everyone look all surprised that the righteous Jim Gordon’s letting his hair down with the rest of us mere mortals.” Harvey pointed out, seeming amused by how Jim rolled his eyes at that remark. “Besides, I need a designated driver and there’s no way I’m hitching a lift with Nygma again this year.”

“Ed’s going?” He wasn’t sure why that surprised him. While Ed was impressively unpopular, that never seemed to deter him from attempting to socialise. It was just difficult to imagine him at a party. After all, he stuck out like a sore thumb even in normal circumstances.

“Yeah. Probably with a whole host of ‘fun facts’ about Christmas to enlighten us with.” The older detective shook his head, then took a swig of instant coffee. “So, you coming?”

Jim sighed deeply. He didn’t want to. He wasn’t all that good at parties, and work parties normally had an extra layer of awkwardness to them. But Harvey probably wouldn’t stop bugging him about it until he agreed.

“Fine.”

—

The Christmas party was a little less grim than Jim had imagined, but all the same, he struggled to get into the spirit of things. If it hadn’t been for Harvey, Jim was sure that he would have just been standing at the sidelines quietly, eating a mince pie that he didn’t even really want. As he half listened to the anecdote that Harvey was telling a small group of their colleagues, he found his eyes drawn to Ed. 

He was half way across the room and talking with some excitement about something. Talking with his hands and practically bouncing, undeterred by his audience’s distinct lack of enthusiasm. Jim could tell they weren’t interested from where he was standing, he wondered if Ed could. If he noticed but didn’t care, or if he genuinely didn’t know that people tended to find him irritating, or odd.

“Jim?” Harvey interrupted his train of thought with a nudge of his elbow. “Tell them the story about that witness we had, you know, the one with hooks for hands dressed like Santa Claus.”

“Harvey I’m not sure that’s-“

“Good evening, detectives.” Jim turned around, surprised to see that Ed had left the people he’d been talking to moments ago and was now standing right behind him. Truthfully, he was sort of impressed by his speed. 

“Hey, Ed.” Harvey greeted, a slightly snarky edge to his tone, but he kept it under wraps better than usual. Perhaps because it was Christmas. Or perhaps because he was in a good mood from one too many glasses of cheap mulled wine. “You excited for Christmas?”

“Oh, I don’t really celebrate it. I’d much rather be at work.” Ed’s answer surprised Jim a little. Not because he didn’t think Ed loved his job, but because he found it easy to picture Ed getting up early on Christmas morning and unwrapping presents just as the sun began to rise. Then it occurred to him, Ed probably spent Christmas alone. 

“Huh, I never knew that.” Harvey admitted, also seeming a little surprised himself.

“Fun fact detectives,” Ed quickly changed the topic, rubbing his hands together with bright eagerness. Jim and Harvey exchanged a quick look where Harvey’s eyes said ‘I told you so. Fun facts. He does this every year.’ “Did you know that kissing under the mistletoe originated in Victorian England, a sort of tradition practiced by servants.”

“I didn’t know that, Ed.” Harvey replied, a mock fascination in his voice that was bordering on sarcasm. 

“They used to kiss once for each berry, until all the berries had been taken off the branch.” Jim added. He didn’t know where he had read that fact, but for some reason he felt compelled to add it. “That part of the tradition doesn’t seem to have stuck though.”

Ed’s eyes brightened at Jim’s tidbit of information and nodded eagerly. “That’s right, Detective Gordon.”

“Why the mistletoe fact, Ed? I mean, I know it’s Christmas, but seems a bit random all the same.” Harvey asked, thinking back to the year before when he had told them about the origin of Christmas crackers. He’d forgotten it.

“Well,” Ed pointed above Jim’s head, where a sprig of plastic mistletoe was hanging from some decorative red ribbons. “Detective Gordon is standing underneath some.”

“Ah,” Jim grimaced, making a move to step away, only for Harvey to put a hand on his arm to keep him there.

“Come on, Jim. You heard Ed, you’re underneath the mistletoe.” He teased.

“Harv…”

“With Ed.” Harvey added, clearly amused at the reaction that garnered from both Jim and the forensics expert.

“Oh, I hadn’t… Um,” Ed straightened his glasses, took a step back. “I hadn’t meant that you should kiss me. The tradition has it roots in heterosexual pairs anyway, so there’s no need to adhere to it. You see, a woman would stand underneath the mistletoe and then a man would-“

“Aw come on Ed, we’re a progressive bunch.” 

“I…” Ed looked between Jim and Harvey, quite uncertain now, not sure what the appropriate response was. It wasn’t that kissing Jim would be unpleasant, but he felt like if he did, it would somehow be regarded as him taking a joke too far. Yet, Harvey was the one who had suggested it. He wondered what Jim thought, and saw that the detective was pinching the bridge of his nose and sighing in exasperation. 

For some reason, that stung.

“Alright then, Harv. If it will stop you teasing the poor guy.” Jim conceded. His exasperation had been aimed at Harvey, not at Ed. Before the others could react, he took a step forward, so he was right in front of Ed again. The shorter man leaned up slightly, and placed a brief, soft kiss upon his unsuspecting lips.

Ed’s eyes widened and he found himself frozen on the spot, lost for words, for once. 

Jim found himself smiling slightly at that, but he wiped it from his face quickly so he could turn around and continue to give Harvey a bit of an upbraiding for teasing Ed. The forensics expert stood there for several seconds afterwards, before he felt Jim’s hand on his arm, drawing him in closer to their little circle of friends. His heart beat a little faster, and he began to think that this was the most pleasant Christmas he could remember for a long time.


End file.
